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SAMHOUSTON RACE PARK OPENING NIGHT INCLUDED TRIALS FOR SIRES’ CUP FUTURITY

Debut of American Quarter Horse Meeting at The Park on Thursday, June 26, 2008>

HOUSTON (June 27, 2008)— More than 2,600 guests came out for the opening night of the American Quarter Horse meeting at Sam Houston Race Park (ww.shrp.com).  The evening included eight exciting trial races for two-year-old American Quarter Horses, all of whom earned a potential spot in the finals for the $140,800 Sires’ Cup Futurity, which will be held on Friday, July11, 2008, at The Park.

Taking top honors for the evening was Lightning Round, owned by Bobby D. Cox and trained by John Buchanan. Lightning Round was the fastest qualifier of the night, as he blazed to victory in the seventh race crossing the wire of the 350-yard trial with a final time of :17.806.

Cox and Buchanan have a long-term association and created another champion last year in Don’t Let Down. Buchanan, one of The Park’s all-time trainers, is first on the list when it comes to earnings with $2,220,314 in purse money since The Park opened in 1994. The lightning-fast gelding was led to victory by jockey Dewey Smith, who didn’t disappoint after being asked to take the reins, replacing original jockey G.R. Carter, Jr.

Crossing the finish line first in the eighth race with the second overall fastest time was two-year-old gelding Columbia Crest, who claimed a spot with a final time of :17.933.  The horse was ridden by Gaspar Garcia, trained by C. Dwayne Gilbreath and owned by Cameron Schoenhofer.

Three jockeys battled it out for most trial wins on the night. The jockeys included:  Gaspar Garcia, who qualified Columbia Crest and Intotemptation; Salvador Perez rode Forspeed Breezer and Its a Black Oak into the final; and Rodrigo Vallejo was victorious atop Secret Honor and MWS Sugar Sand.

The ten fastest qualifiers from all trial races will return to The Park on Friday, July 11, to compete for the $140, 800 purse. 

Opening weekend continues with live racing and the debut of the Verizon Wireless Post-Race Concert Series on the Bud Light stage, featuring Robert Earl Keen on Friday, June 27, and John Michael Montgomery with Django Walker on Saturday, June 28.

For more information, please visit www.shrp.com.

Sam Houston Race Park
$140,800 Sires’ Cup Futurity Trials 2008
Trials:		Thursday, June 26, 2008
Final:		Friday, July 11, 2008
Two-Year-Olds 350 Yards
Horse	Jockey		Trainer	Qualifying Time
Lightning Round	Dewey Smith		John Buchanan	17.806
Columbia Crest   RC Mezoom	Gaspar Garcia   Ignacio Bustamante		C. Gilbreath   Jose Garza	17.933   17.935
Tres of Romance	Gaspar Rivera		Judd Kearl	18.012
Forspeed Breezer   Stone Street	Salvador Perez   Luis Ramirez		Eusevio Huitron   Bobby Moore Jr.	18.027   18.035
Secret Honor	Rodrigo Vallejo		John Favre	18.037
Its A Black Oak	Salvador Perez		Jesse Garcia	18.038
MWS Sugar Sand	Rodrigo Vallejo		Levi Mays	18.078
Intotemptation	Gaspar Garcia		Rodolfo Sanchez	18.125